Maria Sharapova leads ‘underdogs’ Russia against Czech Republic in Fed Cup final

Maria Sharapova has played only four Fed Cup ties, but her presence on the court could make all the difference as Russia take on holders the Czech Republic in the 2015 final at the weekend.

The 28-year-old world No 4 will likely face sixth-ranked Petra Kvitova and ninth-ranked Lucie Safarova, the left-handed duo who have led the Czechs to three Fed Cup titles from the last four editions.

“It’s a great way to finish off the year playing with two of the best players,” said Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner, who was sidelined with leg and arm problems from July to October.

“It’s definitely a very new experience, I’ve been part of the team on different occasions but never in the final.”

Sharapova returned to action at the WTA Tour Finals last month, where she lost to Kvitova in the semi-finals — after losing to Safarova at the French Open in June.

“I know how difficult an opponent they are and it will be a great challenge for me,” said Sharapova, called up alongside world No 23 Ekaterina Makarova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (28) and Elena Vesnina (111).

“We are coming into these finals as the underdogs.”

Russian captain Anastasia Myskina said she was pleased to have Sharapova on the team, waving aside a decade-old rift between them over Sharapova’s father.

“Definitely it’s very important to have Maria on the team and I want to say thank you,” Myskina said.

Equally high-spirited, the Czech team denied being the favourite.

“They have the highest-ranking player and a permanent doubles pair” of Vesnina and Makarova, said Czech captain Petr Pala, who has also nominated 11th-ranked Karolina Pliskova and world number 41 Barbora Strycova. “The chances are perfectly even.”

Dubbing Sharapova “Marushka”, the Czech for “little Maria”, Kvitova and Safarova said they would bet on left-handed rotation against her.

“With Marushka, it’s always a matter of the few chances she gives you,” said Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion, who is 4-6 head-to-head with Sharapova.

“Left-handed rotation will help, and of course you have to fight until the end, Marushka doesn’t give up until the last point.”

The two nations have met five times in the Fed Cup before but three of those meetings were between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.

The Czech team lead their head-to-head record with Russia 3-2, including a victory in the most recent encounter in the 2011 final in Moscow.

The Czechs have won the trophy eight times, including five victories as Czechoslovakia which went on to split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

Four-time champions Russia will be playing in their 11th Fed Cup final.

Maria Sharapova eyes first Fed Cup final against Czechs

PRAGUE — Seven years after she helped Russia win its last Fed Cup title, Maria Sharapova finally gets to play in a final this weekend.

Her rare presence in the team is a boost for Russia's hopes of taking the cup from the defending champion Czech Republic on an indoor hard-court at Prague's O2 Arena.

"It's definitely a very new experience," Sharapova said on Wednesday. "I've been part of the team on different occasions but never in the final.

"Having me as part of the team is really exciting, and I hope we can have a good weekend."

All four of her previous Fed Cup ties were in the first round, and all wins.

In 2008, she missed the triumphant final in Spain because of a right shoulder injury.

In 2011, she wasn't available for the home final loss to the Czechs because of a left ankle injury.

In 2012, Russia didn't pick her for the semifinals loss to Serbia because she was too busy.

This year, keen to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, she contributed two wins in the first-round defeat of Poland, and missed the semifinal win over Germany because of a leg injury.

Injury almost kept her out of this week's final.

The fourth-ranked Sharapova was sidelined with a leg injury after losing in the Wimbledon semifinals. At her first tournament back, the Wuhan Open in China last month, she retired in her first match with a left wrist injury. At the WTA Finals in Singapore, she reached the semifinals.

"It was just really great for me to be playing competitive matches again," Sharapova said of the WTA Finals. "I didn't know how my body would hold up, and it was a really great week to have three victories there and have another chance to maybe play two more matches here.

"Everything I have played after the injuries has been a bonus for my tennis, to see where my health is."

To help captain Anastasia Myskina become the fourth woman to win the Fed Cup as a player and captain - she played in the 2004 and '05 triumphs - Sharapova will have to overcome opponents who have become as dominant in the Fed Cup as Russia once was.

The Czechs claimed their third Fed Cup title in four years last November by beating Germany in the final in Prague, and have all their major stars available, led by top-10 players Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova.

With Kvitova and Safarova, the Czechs won their first title as an independent nation, following the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia, in 2011 by beating Russia in Moscow, and retained the trophy in Prague the following year.

Sharapova has positive win-loss records against both; 6-4 vs. the sixth-ranked Kvitova, and 4-2 vs. the ninth-ranked Safarova. However, she has lost to both Czechs this year.

"I know how difficult opponents they are, it will be a great challenge for me," Sharapova said. "Both meetings, I have lost in quite tough matches."

She was beaten by eventual finalist Safarova 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the round of 16 at the French Open, while Kvitova defeated her 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the WTA Finals.

"It's always tough to play her," Safarova said. "You need to be aggressive to succeed."

The Czechs also have on board Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova, while Russia is counting on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Ekaterina Makarova, and doubles specialist Elena Vesnina.

PENNETTA REACHES CAREER-HIGH RANKING

2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta captured a maiden Grand Slam title and rocketed back up the rankings all in one shot; what was her previous career-high?

Published September 14, 2015 12:14

NEW YORK, NY, USA - There's going out with a bang, and then there's 2015 US Open championFlavia Pennetta. Set to retire at the end of the season, the Italian veteran kicked off quite the farewell tour with a maiden Grand Slam title and a career-high ranking of No.8 all in one whirlwind weekend.

Ranked No.26 at the start of the fortnight, Pennetta barreled through a draw full of quality opposition in 2011 champion Samantha Stosur, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, and World No.2 Simona Halep before easing past lifelong friend and conqueror of top seed Serena Williams, Roberta Vinci. Already defending 430 points from reaching last year's quarterfinal, she nonetheless rocketed 18 spots up the rankings to shatter her previous career-high of No.10.

On the Road to Singapore leaderboard, the leap was even bigger; rising 30 spots to No.6, Pennetta is suddenly in pole position to punctuate her final season with a debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, presented by SC Global.

"If I have a chance, of course!" she beamed when asked about refocusing her season towards the Road To Singapore.

This third stint in the Top 10 was over five years in the making for Pennetta, who has always played her best tennis on the North American hardcourts. A year after reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Flushing, the Italian went on an absolute tear, winning 15 straight matches over big names like Stosur, Maria Sharapova, Vera Zvonareva, and Venus Williams, and winning back-to-back titles in Palermo and Los Angeles before falling in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open to then-No.1 Dinara Safina.

It was that run that made her the first Italian to ever break into the WTA's Top 10, and though she was largely a Top 20 mainstay throughout her career - even briefly returning to her career-high before Wimbledon in 2010 - it seemed unlikely that the Fed Cup stalwart would ever surpass the ranking standard set by countrywoman Francesca Schiavone, who was the first Italian to win a Grand Slam title at the 2010 French Open and the highest-ranked from her country at No.4.

But with only 66 points to defend in Wuhan and Beijing - the two tournaments Pennetta has committed to play this fall - it may only get harder to say goodbye for the new No.1 Italian, who could yet do damage at major hardcourt events like the Australian Open and next summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Maria Sharapova to Front Supergoop Campaign

It’s become clear how important tennis star Maria Sharapova has been to sun protection products company Supergoop a little over a year after she came on as an investor.

Sharapova is heading up a new campaign called Project Black Dot that aims to educate consumers on skin cancer and the benefits of wearing sunscreen daily.

The Texas-based company makes sunscreens, eye creams and other products. Sharapova invested an undisclosed amount in Supergoop last year and has since helped educate people on the havoc the sun can have on unprotected skin.

The first iteration of the campaign, called Project Permission, calls on parents to sign permission slips that would allow their children to bring sunscreen to school. It’s currently considered an over-the-counter drug and prohibited on school campuses in most states.

“If we can get the awareness that your kid cannot bring sunscreen to school, it’s a pretty big statement,” Sharapova told WWD. “I think not many parents actually realize that and if you think about that it’s quite a shocking fact and we really hope to change that.”

Wearing sunscreen daily has been a habit for the athlete since she was young, training in the sun sometimes six hours a day in Florida.

“A few years ago, before I even met [Supergoop chief executive officer] Holly [Thaggard], I was a fan of Supergoop. I found it at a Sephora store,” Sharapova said. “I’ve tried so many different sunscreens and this was one that didn’t burn my eyes.”

Sharapova’s involvement in the company has been a boon for the brand.

“We weren’t looking at the time for a spokesperson for our brand and when Maria reached out, what we saw was it gave us the opportunity to put a big megaphone to this message and reach millions more people and, of course, influence our youth as well,” Thaggard said.

Sharapova’s input as a heavy user of sunscreen has also been helpful in the development process, Thaggard added.

Supergoop is sold in Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillard’s and Nordstrom, among other retailers.

Maria Sharapova’s US Open Exit: What It Means For Nike

Athletic giant Nike has one fewer star contender in the US Open tennis competition, after Russian pro Maria Sharapova announced yesterday on her Facebook page that she will withdraw from the tournament. How much of a blow will that be to her key sponsor?

The athletic brand has been promoting Sharapova for the past couple of weeks, including at a special event in New York last week, where the No. 3-ranked player joined Nike stars past and present for a friendly street-ball competition, which also doubled as a launch for the latest NikeCourt gear.

However, as Sharapova noted in her message to fans, she’s been suffering from an injury and hasn’t played a single match since losing to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals. And she has history of withdrawing from the New York competition, according to Russ Napolitano, COO of brand consultancy Tenet Partners.

“It is unfortunate for Nike that this is the second time in three years that Maria has pulled out of this high-profile Grand Slam tournament, forcing Nike to shift gears at a moment’s notice,” he said.

Napolitano noted that he often advises brands that working with celebrities carries risk, so they should always have a backup plan to help navigate any unexpected challenges.

“As luck would have it, Nike’s ‘just in case’ strategy can be to put much of its focus on Serena Williams,” said Napolitano. “This is not a bad position for Nike to be in. All eyes are now on Serena, as she is chasing the calendar Grand Slam [record], which hasn’t been done in 27 years, since Steffi Graf won all four back in 1988.”

For Nike, another finals showdown between Sharapova and Williams would’ve been preferable, but the brand still stands to benefit from its longstanding partnership with Williams, which has yielded unique on-court fashions and a signature line of sneakers.

Added Napolitano, “If Serena succeeds at making history by winning or even by making the finals, Nike’s exposure will be huge, with the Sharapova withdrawal a long-lost memory.”

Why does Maria Sharapova earn $10 million more in endorsements than Serena Williams?

Recently, a controversy involved in the disparity in endorsement pay between Serena Williams ($13 million) and Maria Sharapova ($23 million) hit a place where the debate is always respectful and reasonable: Twitter.

The argument goes that since Serena is so much better on the court than Sharapova, she deserves more money from companies, a belief so deluded and so at odds with everything we know about sports, entertainment and business that it boggles the mind. (Meryl Streep is the best actress, how dare she not get salary of a Jennifer Lawrence!)

And then the topic quickly turned to race, with the suggestion that Serena doesn’t earn more because she’s black, something that Michael Jordan, the all-time biggest sports endorser, and Tiger Woods, the most apt comparison to Serena (non-white star dominating a traditionally white sport), surely would scoff at.

Serena was asked about this, in a brilliant cover story for The New York Times magazine.

If they want to market someone who is white and blond, that’s their choice. I have a lot of partners who are very happy to work with me. I can’t sit here and say I should be higher on the list because I have won more. I’m happy for her, because she worked hard, too. There is enough at the table for everyone. We have to be thankful, and we also have to be positive about it so the next black person can be No. 1 on that list.

Serena sounds mostly gracious, as she should be. But the entire idea that someone who is better than someone else deserves more in endorsement money is preposterous. Look at Tiger Woods, ranked No. 266 in the world in a single sport but getting the third-most money in endorsements. It’s not outrageous because Tiger’s name still sells things, even if his game is in the toilet and his reputation is right there with it. The market doesn’t care.

Phil Mickelson is maybe the 20th best player in the game and there he is, right below Tiger. How can Phil sleep at night, with Brooks Koepka getting nothing even though he’s ranked five spots ahead of him! Kobe Bryant, who can barely jump anymore, brings in more four times the endorsement money than Chris Paul, another L.A. basketball hero. This is the way it goes in sports and business.

Look at Li Na, a female tennis player who was good for about a few years and earned $5 million more in endorsements than Serena when she was active, not because she was “white and blond” but because she was Chinese and American companies fall all over themselves to get their foot in the door in that untapped market.

There are so many extenuating circumstances that dictate why one athlete makes more in endorsements: a willingness to shill, worldwide appeal, better agents, being multi-lingual, playing a sport that is marketable. I mean, look at the NFL, in which stars barely make any money off the field. They play the most popular sport in America yet Rory McIlroy earns 10 time more in endorsements? He can barely throw a ball!

Is it fair that the best don’t earn the most? Yes. It’s not about being good, it’s about selling product. The bigger concern is that there are only two women (Sharapova and Serena) on the Forbes’ Top 100. But capitalism doesn’t concern itself with such things as equality. Green is all that will ever matter.

Sharapova, Serena, Rousey among Forbes' highest-paid female athletes

Maria Sharapova may sit a distant No. 2 to Serena Williams on the tennis courts, but the Russian star beat out her competitor on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid female athletes for the 11th straight year, the magazine announced Wednesday. 

The five-time Grand Slam title-winning Sharapova earned $29.7 million in prize money and endorsements between June 2014 and June 2015. The 21-time Grand Slam title-winning Williams, who is looking to win her fourth Grand Slam title this year at the U.S. Open, earned $24.6 million.

Caroline Wozniacki came in third on Forbes' list with $14.6 million in earnings ($11 million of it off the court).

Tennis players dominated the list this year, as WTP pros comprised seven of the top 10 entrants.

The only newbie in the top 10 was MMA breakout Ronda Rousey, who punched in at No. 8 on a wave of publicity and endorsement deals with the likes of Reebok, Monster headphones and Carl's Jr.